Your Voice In My Head
by VeryBoredSoul
Summary: Steve Rogers wakes up to a new world with a voice inside his head. Infrequent occurrences of hearing said voice lead Steve to discovering he might just have a soulmate out there after all.


"**I've got to stop doing this."**

The whisper was gone as quick as it had come. Steve looked around, not seeing anyone else in the meeting who was talking except for Pepper. That voice was definitely male. He sounded…anguished?

Shaking his head, he discretely leaned closer to Thor. "Hey, did you hear that?"

Steve realized his mistake almost as soon as Thor opened his mouth. Except, Thor surprised him by _whispering_ back, "Nay. What is it that you heard?"

"A voice. Male. Didn't sound like anyone in this room." Of course, there were a few agents here that were new – and Steve hadn't heard them talk before – but he hadn't seen any of their lips moving.

"I'll keep my ears out." Thor gave Steve a goofy grin, and Steve had to stifle his laughter. Well, whatever.

**~S~*~B~**

Steve was busy, and he quickly forgot about the voice he had heard in the meeting. He lived his life normally for nearly two months before he heard the voice again. Only this time, he was alone.

Well, relatively alone. He had Stark's equivalent to a Bluetooth gadget stuck in his ear while he was storming through an AIM base.

All he heard was,** "…can't they understand? It's not like I'm…"** and then it faded out again.

Steve turned his head to the side and raised his wrist. "Status report. Now."

Clint's came first, then Natasha's. Tony's followed, and last came Bruce. He recognized all of their voices, but the unidentified one didn't speak up again. An explosion sounded nearby, and Steve's attention drifted away from the voice he had heard.

**~S~*~B~**

It was nearly two years later before he heard it again. Sam and he were racing each other…okay. That wasn't fair. Steve was lapping Sam, and Sam was calling him a little shit every time. It was fun. Something Steve hadn't had in a long time. After facing Ultron, Steve just wanted to relax, just for a little while.

"**WHY?! FUCK. STOP! Please, stop**…" Steve winced and nearly tripped, but he managed to balance himself out at the last second.

"What the hell was that?" Steve said.

He had just passed Sam, so Sam caught up to him fairly quickly. "Steve? You all right?"

That was the question of the year. Steve wasn't all right…in more ways than one. "You heard that, right? It was like a scream."

Sam looked at Steve curiously for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. "Whatever you heard, man, must've been picked up by your enhanced hearing."

Steve shook his head adamantly. "No. That was loud. You should've heard it…"

Steve was at a loss, and he didn't know what to do. That voice… "I've heard that voice before. Not for a long time. But…"

Sam's face took on a different look, one of consternation. "You've been hearing voices a lot, Steve?"

Steve shook his head. "What? No, it's not like that. 've just been hearing this one voice. And only a couple times."

Sam's look changed again, and Steve was starting to dread the next words that came from his mouth. Only to be surprised when they were, "Looks like you've got yourself a soulmate."

"A what?!"

"Ah, hell nah. You're not tellin' me you didn' have soul mates back in the forties. 'Cause that's just wrong."

Steve shook his head. "I never had one…"

Sam shook his head in something other than disbelief. Amusement, maybe? "Now that's just cruel. The universe been making you wait for your soulmate for seventy years. They don't sound old, do they? 'Cause that would just be the worst."

Steve slowly shook his head. "He? Yeah, he sounds male. Young. But…he sounds like he's in pain…I don't…a soulmate?" Steve was still wrapping his head around that. He had always figured he didn't have one. It's why he was so interested in dating Pegs. Not everyone had a soulmate, and the ones who did always had something to connect them early in life: whether that be sharing thoughts, sharing dreams, sharing scars, or any other form of soul connection. Steve just figured that he didn't have one.

Until now, apparently.

**~S~*~B~**

Over the course of the following days, weeks, and months, Steve didn't bother telling anyone else he had a soulmate. He couldn't figure out how to connect with him, as he never answered Steve's questioning, "Can you hear me?"

It wasn't like Steve was worried or anything…

He was. He so was.

It seemed like every time he picked up his soulmate's thoughts, there was something about his tone. A frightened edge… Steve just couldn't help think about his own thoughts from World War II. They echoed his own, and it was eerie.

Then, one day in early spring, Steve heard his soulmate's thoughts praise, **"Thank you. Oh, God. Thank you."**

He sounded relieved, if not a little bone-weary. Honestly, Steve would take that over any of the other thoughts his soulmate had thought in the recent years. At least he sounded almost happy.

**~B~*~S~**

"**Who vows to fight like a man for what's right night and day?"**

Bucky jerked his head up. His parents forced him to go to this awards ceremony. He had just been through hell and back as a POW, and this was definitely the last place he wanted to be. Even more so now that he knew the voice he had been hearing in his head ever since 2011 was back. It had been quiet while he was overseas, except for the occasional loud burst of thought, and he figured that the distance must have done something to his ability to pick up on his soulmate's thoughts.

Obviously, now that he was back stateside, he was closer to his soulmate, and he could easily pick up on more of his thoughts. So, that meant his soulmate was somewhere in DC. Possibly even in the area that this awards ceremony was being held at. Although, why the fuck was the guy singing "Star Spangled Man with a Plan" in his head?

"**Who waked the giant that napped in America? We know it's no-one but Captain America. Who'll finish what they began? MOTHER FREAKING FUCK! WHY? WHY IS IT STUCK IN MY HEAD AGAIN!? IT'S BEEN YEARS!"**

Bucky visibly winced when his soulmate decided to scream inside his head, startling Bucky just enough that he was annoyed. Although, highly amused by the exasperation tinging his soulmate's thoughts.

"**Hey? Can you hear me?"**

An eerie silence followed his question, until, **"You…uh…you didn't hear me just now, did you?"**

Bucky fought a grin that was threatening to pull his lips up. His soulmate sounded sheepish and near apologetic. **"Who'll hang a noose on the goose-stepping goons—"**

"**Finish that line, and I swear I will…wait. How come we can have a conversation like this?"**

Bucky rolled his eyes. His soulmate was a little slow on the uptake. Alright, that was fine. **"We couldn't hear each other very well before because we were physically far away from each other. Only highly emotional thoughts got through. Now, we're closer distance-wise. I'm assuming you're from DC?"**

"**Uh…I'm actually from Brooklyn. I'm just visiting DC for work and to help a friend move."**

"**Oh, really? That's neat. I was…overseas for a while. Couple'a years. 'M from Brooklyn too, but I'm in DC right now sitting at this…holy shit."**

"**What? What is it?"** His soulmate sounded concerned, but that wasn't Bucky's primary focus at the moment.

Currently, he was sitting on a stage, waiting for this awards ceremony to begin, when freaking Captain America himself walks up onto the platform.

"**You'll never guess who I just saw. Who I'm seeing right now."**

"**Who is it?"**

"**Guess."** Okay, so he was being a little shit, but he was a little star struck. Give the man a break.

"**The president?" **Alright, so his soulmate could be a little shit too.

"**No, punk. I'm not that important. Alright. I'll give you a hint. He's tall, blond, gorgeous, and literally everyone in America knows his name. Well, his stage name at least."** Silence greeted Bucky while Bucky watched Captain freaking America swerve his head left and right. His eyes landed on Bucky, and they connected. Bucky's heart nearly skipped a beat. **"He's so fucking handsome."**

"**Hey now. Aren't I supposed to be your soulmate?"** There was almost a teasing grin that could be heard with those words, but Bucky didn't care. Captain America was handsome. Gorgeous. And he was getTING CLOSER?

Bucky's eyes widened as _Captain America_ stepped right up to Bucky and held out his hand. "Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes?"

"**No fucking way." **"No fucking way." Bucky watched as confusion crossed the Captain's features, and then his pretty blue eyes widened.

"**You're starstruck by Captain America?"**

Bucky nodded his head. "I'm starstruck by Captain America." As those words left his mouth, Captain America – **God, what was his real name? Stephen? Grant? Rogers? Fuck. Was that right? Oh, fuck. Barnes, think!**– sat down in the empty chair next to Bucky.

Steve merely held out his hand again, offering to shake Bucky's. Bucky clasped it in his own and shook. "Steven Grant Rogers. Steve. You were right."

Bucky couldn't decide between letting his mouth drop open or running away – **_Captain America was his soulmate!_**_ – s_o, he settled on something in the middle. "Do you have "Star Spangled Man with a Plan" stuck in your head a lot?"

Steve's laugh made relief swim through Bucky's body. "Unfortunately, it was very catchy, and I heard it more times than I could count."

Bucky grinned, and he couldn't help the warmth that flooded through him. Maybe…maybe waiting all this time to finally meet his soulmate would pay off. "Nice to meet you, Steve." He was going off script, but he was a little starstruck and quickly developing a huge lust crush on the man in front of him. He was so…everything.

"You too, James."

"Oh, uh, call me Bucky. It's the name I go by."

Steve dipped his head in a nod and practically beamed back at Bucky. "Bucky it is then. Tell me, would you be able to grab a bite to eat after this ceremony? I'm starving."

Bucky nodded his head a little too enthusiastically, which made him blush because he was a fucking dork with a fucking crush and**, alright, Barnes. Play it cool. Oh shit, he can hear me.** Bucky saw the smile Steve was trying to restrain, and Bucky rolled his eyes at his soulmate. "Burgers? I could go for some burgers after this."

"It's a date."

Satisfaction rolled through Bucky, and he could tell that this was the start of a beautiful (and hopefully lifelong) commitment.

**~END~**


End file.
